Philippine Embassy Retains ASEAN Championship Trophy
PRESS RELEASE NO. RVMI- 70 -2009
19 December 2009
The Philippine Embassy was once again the ASEAN Missions’ Overall Sports Tournament Champion. The award was given on the occasion of the ASEAN Night held on 17 December 2009 at the premises of the Embassy of Indonesia, the event’s host. The championship trophy was personally handed over to Charge d’ Affaires, a.i. Romulo Victor M. Israel, Jr. of the Philippines by Charge d’ Affaires a.i. Sukanto Sukanto of Indonesia.
The Philippine Embassy retains its title for garnering the highest number of total points in its participation in the different sports competitions organized by the ASEAN Riyadh Sports and Social Committee (ARSSC). Except for the Darts and Sepak Takraw Games, the Philippines secured a place either as champion or runner-up in the Road Race, Bowling, Table Tennis, Golf, Ladies Putting and Volleyball games. In accordance with the standing rules of the ARSSC, the Philippines now has a chance to keep the rotating overall championship trophy if it can defend its title next year (2010) or top the contest for three (3) consecutive years.
Three (3) Challenge Trophies were also given to the Philippine Embassy for being the Champion in Golf, Bowling and Volleyball competitions.
The other recipients of Challenge Trophies were Brunei Darussalam (Ladies Putting), Thailand (Sepak Takraw), and Indonesia (Table Tennis, Road Race & Darts).
The occasion also gave an opportunity for each Embassy to promote its unique cuisine, tourism and culture. ASEAN Embassies each donated two native dishes that were distributed for free among the guests; given a space to place tourism promotion materials such as brochures, CDs, travel guides, etc; and were allotted 2 to 3 minutes each to show a multimedia presentation about their beautiful places and people, in harmony with the ASEAN Missions agreement for the annual event. For its food contribution, the Philippine Embassy provided Bicol Express and Chicken Caldereta, both of which were made with hot and creamy spices that gave foreign visitors a sweating experience in gustatory delight.
Guests were also entertained by cultural performances prepared by participating embassies such as Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. The children of Embassy personnel, whose ages range from 5 to 10 represented the Philippines in interpreting a song entitled “I am but a Small Voice” by Lea Salonga. They charmed the audience with their colorful traditional ASEAN costumes and childlike performance, particularly when they each delivered their one line piece in the language of the country they portray.
The awarding of trophies and presentations were interspersed with the drawing of raffle tickets during the program, which made the occasion more exciting and enjoyable. More than fifty (50) prizes were given away. The Filipinos were lucky to have bagged more than a dozen of said prizes.
The night ended with lots of wholesome fun among friends and ASEAN family members from Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand, Singapore and Vietnam. pls see pic
